“讀萬卷書，行萬里路”，旅行可以開拓我們的視野，讓我們體驗到不同的文化，擁有不同的心境。但是如果有一天，你因為種種原因無法出去旅行，請不要沮喪，因為你可以讓這種不旅行成為一種最美的旅行。

By Amirah Ahmad

段會香 注

Whether I like it or not, I consider myself an honorary member of East Asian society.

For the past 2 years, I’ve had the privilege of travelling to various countries in Asia, specifically Indonesia and China. These trips weren’t the typical vacations that last for roughly two weeks and consist of hopping from one tourist destination to the next. Rather, I completely immersed myself in the culture, staying in both Indonesia and China for approximately 6 weeks. I befriended the man who made my breakfast everyday in Beijing, and I keep in touch with the girl I worked with at WiCell Technologies in Jakarta.

After two consecutive years of escaping to the Eastern Hemisphere, however, I’m staying at home. In colloquial terms, it sucks.

Everyday, I yearn for the thrill of travelling, the thrill of trying a new Asian dish, the thrill of bargaining with a hostile vendor on the street for a bracelet that caught my eye. I catch myself watching hours Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, and replaying the episodes where he visits a small town in China or secluded village deep in Vietnam. Occasionally, I scroll through the pictures from my travels, lingering on the ones where my memories stem from.

My desire to travel, in fact, makes me incredibly impulsive. One day, I was watching my old friend Andrew Zimmern travel to Cambodia. I watched him taste the peculiar foods and float down a massive man-made lake, clustered with locals trying to find dinner. The second the show ended, I ran upstairs to my computer and looked up plane tickets to Phnom Penh. It’s pathetic, I know.

I apologize for this sob story that’s dominated a good portion of my article. Let me try to spin things around.

Though I’m devastated about not being able to travel for the summer, staying in place does have its up’s. I graduated from high school just recently. As I walked across the stage, reaching out for my high school principal’s hand with my right and taking my diploma with my left, I graduated. As I walked across the stage, almost in a trance, I realized I had just wrapped up one of the most important stages in my life. I was soon entering the real world, but I had one last summer that see-sawed in between the real world and the world my peers and I had just left. I had one last summer to make memories with high school friends that I would reminisce about during old age.

Additionally, I am pleased to say I have found a job this summer. I work at the Seneca Hill Animal Hospital and Resort where I look after dogs whose owners have left for summer vacation. The work may be hard, but at least I’m compensated.

All in all, life at home so far has not been all that difficult. I’m spending time with old friends, and earning for myself, two things that could not be done outside the US. Although I would have wanted to spend the summer in a magical land with foreign foods, languages, and people, I have to realize that life is what you make of it. That’s why I’m going to make my time at home the best vacation I’ve ever had.

Vocabulary

1. honorary: 名譽的，榮譽的。

2. privilege: 特權。

3.這些旅行不像典型的假期旅行，因為它們大概只有兩周時間，而且都是匆忙地從一個目的地到下一個目的地。roughly: 大約；consist of: 包括； hop: （通常指乘飛機的）短途旅程；destination: 目的地。

4. immerse in: 沉浸于。

5. befriend: 交朋友，成為朋友； keep in touch with: 與……保持聯系；Jakarta: 雅加達（印尼首都）。

6. 連續兩年逃離到東半球后，我現在還是回到了家里。consecutive: 連續的；hemisphere: 半球。

7. colloquial: 通俗的，口語的；it sucks: 真糟糕。

8. yearn for: 渴望；thrill: 刺激；bargain with: 與……討價還價；hostile: 不友好的；vendor: 攤販；bracelet: 手鐲； catch one’s eye: 吸引某人眼球。

9. catch sb. doing sth.: 撞見某人干某事；Bizarre Foods: 《古怪食物》，是一個旅游美食節目，主持人為安德魯?席莫（Andrew Zimmern），在旅游頻道（Travel Channel）播出。replay: 重演；episode: 情節；secluded: 隱蔽的，隱居的。

10. scroll: （如卷軸般）展開，滾動； linger: 徘徊，流連；stem from: 來自，源于。

11. incredibly: 不可思議地；impulsive: 沖動的。

12. peculiar: 獨特的；float: 游蕩，漂浮；cluster: （人）簇擁，聚集。

13. Phnom Penh: 金邊（柬埔寨首都）。

14. pathetic: 悲哀的。

15. sob story: （意在博取別人同情的）訴苦，傷感故事；dominate: 在……中占主要地位。

16. spin around: 旋轉，翻轉。

17. 雖然我因為夏天不能出去旅行而感到沮喪，但是待在家里的確也有好處。devastated: 沮喪的，垮掉的；stay in place: 待在原地。

18. reach out for: 伸手夠……；diploma: 畢業證書。

19. in a trance: 恍惚，出神；wrap up: 圓滿完成，圓滿結束。

20. see-saw: （如蹺蹺板般）搖擺；peer: 伙伴，同齡人。

21. reminisce: 回憶。

22. compensate: 補償，給予報酬。

23. all in all: 總之。

24. 我和老朋友一起玩，我開始賺錢，這兩件事情是離開美國去旅行時無法做到的。

25. make of: 理解，看待。

（來源：英語學習雜志 編輯：丹妮）